Will there be another broken promise? 
September 17, 2009 by Eva Rodriguez-Saenz
Immigration reform put on the back burner once again
Will there be immigration reform before the end of the year?
It was not long ago that Latinos voted overwhelmingly for President Barack Obama in hopes of attaining a greater presence in the minds and votes of legislators.
But as the health care debate heats up, it seems unreasonable for the administration to make a solid move on immigration policy.
The risk alienating some voters, as always, rears its ugly head in the campaign offices of the many politicians up for reelection in 2010.
Latinos are not the only ones affected – every immigrant who continues to be victimized by a poorly structured immigration system is also being punished.
Nonetheless, the largest group affected, without a doubt, is that of immigrants from Latin American.
The chants of “¡Si se puede!” have died down as fall approaches with no viable plan yet offered by the White House.
There have been meetings where “leaders” of the community meet to offer their ideas on how immigration policy should be structured, but they walk away with empty promises once again.
During an interview with Univision in May 2008, Obama continuously voiced his promise that made it sound like there would be immigration reform within the first year of his presidency if he was elected.
He was elected with well over 50 percent of the Latino vote and his first year ends on January 20, 2010.
It is understandable that he would want to deal with other important domestic issues of concern, but this is beginning to sound like the song never ends.
Each presidential candidate attends Latino-based events and gets interviewed by Univision and as soon as the Oval Office opens, all promises appear to be negotiable.
The divisive wall continues to get built, raids rip families apart and Latin American policy has been overlooked once again.
The reality is that as the days pass by and with the 2010 reelections nearing, it will become increasingly unrealistic for any politician to risk reelection to such a polarizing topic.
Let’s face it: The administration chose its battle for the year and immigration reform was not it.
It seems that the terminology the administration uses when referring to immigrants has slowly turned from friendly to more derogatory.
Does this mean that immigration policy reform will not happen? Maybe not.
But it is still reasonable to assume that the administration has chosen to time its legislation battles and immigration may just be waiting a few months before making its appearance.
Political strategists are as leery of immigration reform as they are of scandals. The many variables associated with immigration can become extremely problematic for those running reelection campaigns, especially with the xenophobia present among some American communities.
The bottom line is that the system is broken and it needs to be overhauled.
We cannot continue to patiently wait. Immigrants should not be relegated to the waiting list every time.
It is a necessary systematic change.
We must address the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ bureaucratic and flawed processes, unreasonable fees, inadequate penalties and unfair practices of naturalization categorized by country of descent as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s unfair treatment of undocumented immigrants.
This year has been a continuation of the previous years: fancy meetings at the White House, empty promises and sporadic meetings with Latin American leadership that do nothing to better the situation.
The immigration question is one that has to be tackled from several angles. Latin American policy is as much a variable when addressing immigration as the question of how to deal with immigrants in the U.S.
If the region continues to decline economically, it is only reasonable to assume that citizens of those countries will seek refuge elsewhere.
Political tensions accompanied by rising violence are also responsible for migration patterns.
The meetings held with Brazilian President Luiz da Silva, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and other leaders did nothing to address key issues of economic mandates by the IMF or the World Bank that economically oppress many of these countries.
The most activity from American legislators has been that which is happening on the floor of the Mexican legislature: discussing the possible privatization of the oil industry.
It is nice to have a more welcoming administration that shows a greater willingness to act, but all talk and no action will not make a difference.
Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos believes that immigrants will have to wait their turn once again and it would do no good to hastily put together immigration legislation only to have xenophobic individuals added to the chaos already sustained by heated health care rallies.
The hope is that the administration will kick into gear and begin immigration reform legislation in the coming months in order to see a tangible legislation proposal early next year.
A promise was made that may have to be broken, but Obama still remains the hope for many who chanted with him at his rallies.
Latino voters did their part. Now the White House must hold up their end of the deal.
Immigration reform is needed now.
Eva,
By the looks of your article, it seems you are criticizing President Obama. I think there’s an element of racism too!
You said that this administration is more “welcoming”? Didn’t the last administration actually take up immigration reform including many of the reforms sought by immigrant leaders? Looking at that fact, your comment seems to be based more in bias then objectivity but maybe meant something different.
I agree that the immigration system is messed up and needs to be fixed.
1. One the first changes needed is to not allow anchor babies. Allowing women to come here and all they need to stay is to have a baby will destroy any fixes to our immigration system besides getting rid of all limits on immigration.
2. We need to secure our borders so we know who is coming in and who is going out. This will allow immigration reform to actually work because right now if someone wants to get into this country they can quite easily. So immigration fixes (besides unlimited immigration) won’t work until we can actually limit immigration.
3. We need to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to live here one they get inside the country. Right now once an illegal immigrant gets inside the country they can find work, get government services and live much better than in their home country (most times). This makes it enticing for illegal immigrants to break the law as all they have to do is get past our borders and they are home free. One way that is already a law is to heavily fine anyone that knowingly hires illegal immigrants. To get around this many businesses hire subcontractors, so they aren’t liable if they are illegal. I would fix that loophole and say that if a company hires a worker (subcontractor, independent contractor, or employee) that they will be fined if that person is illegal. I would also makes the fines large so they would negate any increased profitability that company had by hiring illegal immigrants.
4. Once we get control of our country, then we should provide immigrants a way to get into our country legally with some limitations.
- One limitation is on the amount of immigrants allowed per year based on how many our economy can handle (or needs) this can be adjusted annually (or more often as needed). This way it will not be an arbitrary number and immigrants that are allowed in will likely have a chance of finding employment when they enter the country. This will also take into account jobs needed for Americans as they would get the first crack at the jobs. So in times like now, there would be little immigration allowed.
- Another limitation will be on who can be allowed in, no criminals of any sort, no people with terrorist ties, etc. This will allow constructive members to be added to our society not people that will burden our society.
- Another limitation will be that they speak English with some degree of expertise. I know some will describe this as racist (as most things are these days) but it actually has a good point. What jobs can a person get in the US while only speaking a foreign language? Not many, that person will be always be handicapped in their search for employment. If they spoke English on the other hand they would have many more options. A side benefit to this would be that the governments in the US (federal, state, local) will save billions of dollars a year by not printing documents in languages other than English.
5. There should be a priority given to people who are highly skilled especially if they are needed in the US or have already received an offer of employment conditional on their entrance to the US. These are the kind of people we should be letting in as quickly as they come. They provide a service to our economy as they are filling necessary highly skilled positions and many of them already have employment. Last time I checked we did not have enough doctors or engineers and this could be a way to fill that gap. This sounds like a win-win situation to me.
6. Reuniting families is a great idea but it has been abused. I have a friend who has lived his entire life in Guatemala until about 1 year ago but was born in California so he is an American citizen (his parents came to California on “vacation” when his mother was 9 months pregnant). He now plans on bringing his parents, siblings and his extended family to the US. That kind of gamesmanship should not be allowed in our immigration system. I already spoke about anchor babies (see above) but we should only allow for the immediate family to reunite under this program.
7. Unskilled laborers should not be prioritized unless they are needed. There are many fields that need unskilled laborers but right now these laborers are abused as they have little legal recourse if they aren’t paid minimum wages, provided protection from health hazards, paid overtime, etc. That exploitation should be stopped and one way to do that is to make these companies use legal immigrants or Americans to do these jobs.
8. We have to do something about the millions who are already here in the US but unfortunately I don’t know what.
- Deporting them sounds like an easy way to fix the problem but it is far too costly and many of them have children that are American citizens which complicates things greatly.
- Another idea is to allow them to become American citizens even though they broke our laws to enter the country and live here. I don’t like this idea as it rewards bad behavior and so it encourages more bad behavior (Reagan and Congress in 1986 tried amnesty and all it did was encourage more people to break our laws)
- A third idea is to create a “path to citizenship” (used by both Reagan and Bush). Reagan got it through Congress and it did not have any of the results that he desired. It didn’t cut down on illegal immigration it increased it. I think if the borders are secured and our laws are properly enforced then a “path” makes a good idea as long as there are certain requirements. Such as paying application fees, learning to speak English, understanding American civics, passing a medical exam, registering for military selective service, paying all back taxes in full and other past due debts, if any. As part of this, the illegal immigrants would have to live here following the law, paying taxes, etc for a few years before they could become a citizen. During those years, they would be on a different tax system so that they would pay their fair share of taxes and not receive any of the tax credits that are often given to poorer American citizens (this way the government isn’t giving money to the illegal immigrants)
- Another idea is to allow illegal immigrants into the US Military and then after a certain numbers of years in the service they would be granted citizenship (as long as they fulfill all the requirements above as well)
I kind of like the idea of military service as that way immigrants will learn English, have medical exams, learn about American civics and receive pay while doing it. I also think it will allow immigrants to bond with the American way of life which will allow them to assimilate more easily. I wouldn’t say that way is the best for everyone as many would not qualify to be in our military (I would suppose) so for others I would support a “path to citizenship” which was the same length as that of military service where they would have to show that they are good citizens.
If you have ideas or comments, I would love to hear them.
With unemployment at a 26 year high, the New York Times has revealed that immigration authorities at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have undertaken preparations for issuing visas to 11-18 millions (?) My guess over 20 million + illegal aliens who would be granted–BLANKET AMNESTY–if Congress is–able–to pass immigration reform legislation. Now is the time to remind your Senators and Representatives at 202-224-3121, that we demand they do NOT enroll on to this ill conceived abomination. Into our country at least a million law abiding newcomers come annually, clutching their entry visas; many waiting for years for a chance at the American dream. But the thrall of lobotomized Democrats are in for a hard lesson, including some Republican business enthusiasts, who think it’s–going to be a simple solution approving this financial calamity.
This illegal alien mess has been methodically created by both parties for decades. But monumental amounts of the US population do not agree with this outcome. LaRaza, a radical anti-Sovereignty organization, will transform the US into a third world dumping ground yet? Incidentally regarding the 2010 Census? Small states will miss out big time on federal dollars, while mass illegal immigrant states will gain more seats in Congress and too much power and influence? Of course ICE could check the immigration status of those who are counted, even though it’s supposedly against US law? Or is counting non-legal residence against the US Constitution?
All we need is mandatory E-Verify to remove from every honest business, workers who came here illegally; those who don’t will suffer severe penalties. This is a murky back-door way for hard-line Liberal Democrats to sneak past all verification measures, which would approve a path to citizenship for lawbreakers thus giving them access to–YOUR–health care? All Americans GOOGLE–NUMBERSUSA, to uncover the deceitful way they plan to cheat all legal workers and citizens? America is already on the road to irreversible OVERPOPULATION. Do all the people out their who are suffering from a compassion syndrome, believe–ALL–Americans want to pay even higher taxes to support corporate welfare, for the millions they have already hired? I don’t think so?
This is one of the cloaked agendas of The Council of Foreign Relations to intensify the unfettered inflow of destitute peoples into North America. We already spend more money across the globe, than anyone else? Yet the United Nations is never satisfied. We already have a negative-dollar free trade treaty, which has seen the disappearance of our manufacturing industries. To me Globalism and internationalism are dirty words, and when Americans open their eyes it might be too late? Our country is being emasculated by the illegal immigration and the financial support poured out by unaware taxpayers. America is like the Greek god “Atlas” supporting the world and its issues? That is exactly what we are doing–SUPPORTING THE WORLD? For the record 15 Democrats are already discussing your fate, as they strife to undermine immigration enforcement amendments:
1. To permanently reauthorize E-Verify? 2. To complete the 700 miles of border fencing? 3. To continue and not rescind the No-match-letter program, that HS Napolitano has closed down. 4. Grassley’s amendment to allow all businesses that use E-Verify to run all of their current employees through the E-Verify system. Go see who the traitors are to our protection of the border at NUMBERSUSA. Napolitano who rules over the Homeland Security agency has compromised the immigration enforcement agencies policies, by taking away 287 G apprehension law from uniformed police across the land. She is supposedly placed in this security citadel to keep Americans safe, but her Democratic politics is taking control and therefore such powerful deterrents such as 287 (g), finishing the poorly constructed border fence, containing heavy duty ICE raids and just breaking down the already thin line that holds back criminal aliens, drug traffickers and the pollution of illegal law breakers who have no permission to enter America.
I keep hearing that the 1986 Immigration Reform & Control Act (Simpson/Mazzoli Bill) needs fixing? That it’s broken? Take a minute to understand that the Kennedy law was never enforce? It was rife with fraud? Neither impotent political party has used their power, to keep the special interest hibernated? They are the ones with millions of dollars that held back any resolution to this progressive dilemma. Now the leadership want to unleash a far greater number of human beings into America, when we are already drowning in debt to foreign countries, even communist China.
Do you know what the state of our highways or underground utilities? Each state has 30 year underground causeways of irreparable water and sewage pipes that our government has ignored. Again I say watch “The Crumbling of America” on the History channel. Each year our bridges and dams are deteriorating, so they do hasty repairs, but many are seeing deployable erosion that cannot be fixed, because the state has not enough money? Yet the Democrats want to cause an avalanche of impoverished people, who will want to bring in even more family members. Who’s going to recompense for them? Then even more will break through the fence, enter as a tourist or slip into America via the Caribbean? The onslaught will never end and our reservoir of cash is finally exhausted.
I have a hard time paying my taxes, without paying more for the impecunious, uneducated who slip into our sovereign country bring the criminals, the handicapped and elderly immigrants. Who pays for my family and kids, the house payment, health care and car? NOT THE BLOODY TRAITORS IN WASHINGTON ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE WHO KEEP PILING ON HIDDEN TAXES TO SUBSIDIZE ILLEGAL FOREIGNERS AND FAMILIES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES. I’LL EVEN GO FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE SKILLED JOBS AND SOMETHING TO OFFER, BUT NOT FOR JUST ANYBODY WHO TAXPAYERS HAVE TO SUPPORT? Learn more about corruption at JUDICIAL WATCH. Learn about POPULATION GROWTH at CAPSWEB.
[...] this story. We looked for a Latin American Obama voter and we found one. In a recent article in the UNLV Rebel Yell, Eva Rodriquez-Saenz wrote, “It was not long ago that Latinos voted overwhelmingly for [...]
[...] “We looked for a Latin American Obama voter and we found one. In a recent article in the UNLV Rebel Yell, Eva Rodriquez-Saenz wrote, “It was not long ago that Latinos voted overwhelmingly for [...]